Pedal Paddle offers taste of outdoor activities

Pedal Paddle tour goers look over the Mouns Jones house at Morlatton Village in Douglassville during a stop on the bicycle part of the tour Thursday evening, July 17, 2014. The tour is hosted by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area and starts in Pottstown. (Photo by Eileen Faust/The Mercury)

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POTTSTOWN — First-timers and experienced outdoorsmen alike took advantage of a unique event offered by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area last week.

The Pedal Paddle takes riders north along the Schuylkill River Trail to Morlatton Village in Douglassville before returning by boat to Riverfront Park in Pottstown. In between, travelers get a peek into the area’s origins with a tour of the historic village and a look inside its buildings.

For those who have never ridden a bike or paddled in a kayak, and aren’t sure if they want to shell out a lot of money for the experience, the Pedal Paddle is a great introduction to both sports, organizers said. Participants don’t need their own equipment as the bicycles used are courtesy of Bike Pottstown, and the kayaks are included in the fee thanks to Take It Outdoors Adventures of Linfield.

“We get a lot of people who are inexperienced,” said Doug Chapman, owner of Take It Outdoors Adventures. But there is never any “snobbery” among Pedal Paddle participants, he said. “Everybody is very open, always willing to lend a hand” or a bit of advice.

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Friends Susan Lomaf of Collegeville and Debbie Walker of Lansdale said they were trying the Pedal Paddle because they had both purchased kayaks recently and were hoping to get some guidance and experience on how to use them through the trip.

“We always do the Phoenixville trail and we thought (the Pedal Paddle) would be a good opportunity to see the other part of the trail,” Walker added.

Tom Carroll of Bike Pottstown led the tour on the river trail, stopping every so often to share stories and tidbits of history with the riders. John DiRenzo of TriCounty Bicycles assisted riders in getting accustomed to their bikes and followed up in the rear.

The guides are good at teaching the basics, said Laura Catalano of the Schuylkill River Heritage Area. “We’ve had people come who’ve never been on a bike since they were a kid, and they’re in their 50s,” Catalano said. But they usually pick it up right away and have no trouble keeping up, she said.

The trip is designed for all skill levels, with a guide in front and one in back allowing riders who wish to go slower to travel at their own pace without losing the group. The same system applies to the paddle down the river, with guides Chapman and Evan Hephner from Take It Outdoors giving instructions on how to maneuver the kayaks, before choosing the appropriate vessel for each day tripper.

Hephner said the event is a great way for people to get into the sport of kayaking.

“It gives you a little taste of it on an easy section of the river and it’s a great deal.”

Hephner added that kayaking is a great sport for someone to take up if they wish to get in shape. “You’re using your core, your whole body,” when you paddle, he said.

And it is a great way to spend time with those you love, according to Dave and Rosemary Keller of South Coventry, who took the trip with their son John.

“My wife has decided to give this to me as a birthday gift since today is my birthday,” said Dave Keller, who turned 62 years old the day of the trip. “She thought I would enjoy a bike ride as well as a kayak ride down the river.”

Keller said the trip was wonderful. “It’s a lot of fun.”

“It’s a together thing. When you do stuff together it is more fun, and more important, better memories,” said Rosemary Keller.

Some of those memories could be made exploring Morlatton Village, which has been one of the stops on the tour for the last three years.

“It’s wonderful because we love to have people see Morlatton Village,” said Leslie Rebmann, a volunteer with the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County who led the tour. “It’s kind of hidden and people don’t really know that it’s here.”

Rebmann said another benefit of having the tour stop at the village was it exposed more people from outside the area to the historic site.

“It’s a great opportunity to have more people learn about the village, and a little bit about the history of the area, too,” she said.

Not only did the experience expose the travelers to new outdoor activities, it gave them a reason to return to the area in the future. Anne and Alan McIlvain of Bryn Mawr said they have taken other trips offered by the Heritage Area elsewhere, and wanted to check out the Thun Trail section of the river trail. Both love to kayak and bike, and said they might come back to travel down the bicycle trail through Douglassville again.

Both felt the trip was well-organized and the fact that it was an evening expedition made it even more attractive to the couple.

“There is nothing more beautiful than a river at the end of the day,” said Alan McIlvain.

Overall the event has never been a disappointment to any participant, said Catalano. “We’ve never had someone do the whole trip and not think it was fun,” she said.

This year’s Pedal Paddle dates are sold out, but other paddling and biking trips are being hosted by the Heritage Area. For more information on the trips offered as well as maps and guides to the Schuylkill River bike and water trails, visit www.schuylkillriver.org.

For more information on Bike Pottstown and how you can rent a free bicycle, visit bikeschuylkill.org

About the Author

Eileen Faust is a 13-year veteran of journalism and the leader of The Mercury's digital transformation. She supervises publishing to website, mobile, social media and new platforms. Reach the author at efaust@pottsmerc.com
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